Autonomous Robotic System for Snow Removal in Large-Scale Photovoltaic Arrays | Zendy

Jijiang Wu | Zendy; Liqun Liu | Zendy; Qingfeng Wu | Zendy; Junqiang He | Zendy; Wanjun Li | Zendy

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Autonomous Robotic System for Snow Removal in Large-Scale Photovoltaic Arrays

Author(s) -

Jijiang Wu,

Liqun Liu,

Qingfeng Wu,

Junqiang He,

Wanjun Li

Publication year - 2025

Publication title -

ieee access

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Magazines

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587

H-Index - 127

eISSN - 2169-3536

DOI - 10.1109/access.2025.3597534

Subject(s) - aerospace , bioengineering , communication, networking and broadcast technologies , components, circuits, devices and systems , computing and processing , engineered materials, dielectrics and plasmas , engineering profession , fields, waves and electromagnetics , general topics for engineers , geoscience , nuclear engineering , photonics and electrooptics , power, energy and industry applications , robotics and control systems , signal processing and analysis , transportation

Snow accumulation on photovoltaic (PV) panels drastically reduces energy output and can induce uneven mechanical loads that damage the panels. We present a novel autonomous robotic system for efficient PV panel snow removal, featuring two core engineering innovations: (1) an adaptive dual-track suspension locomotion system that maintains traction on slippery, inclined panel surfaces and traverses wide gaps between panels, and (2) a hybrid brush–auger–impeller snow-clearing mechanism that mechanically sweeps snow off the panel and then forcefully ejects it away. These are integrated with a distributed control architecture and a multi-sensor navigation module for fully autonomous operation. In this study, a prototype was developed and tested. The experimental results demonstrated stable motion on 30° sloped panels and effective removal of approximately 95% of snow in a single pass. The robot clears up to 135 m 2 /h of fresh light snow and maintains a clearing efficiency of over 85% even on refrozen icy layers. This translates to a reduction in manual labor and preserves over 90% of the PV array’s energy output compared with the no-nothing scenario. These results validate the robot design and are in close agreement with theoretical predictions of its stability and performance.

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